What if there was a supermarket that didn't sell bread and
milk but only gifts of the Holy Spirit... as much as you needed... peace, love,
patience, joy, etc. If I had a supermarket like that Bill Gates would come to
me for a loan!
Today I would like to focus on a "forgotten fruit,"
Fidelity. It can be called a virtue or a gift. It makes us dependable and
strong. When I have it I keep my promises and it means that your
"Yes" is "Yes" and your "No" is "No!"
When you say you will be some where at 7 p.m. people know you will be there at
7 p.m. and it has with it the attitude within you that says "Why should
anybody wait for me?"
Fidelity is twofold
1. I never lose faith in God... I am filled with faith in
Him and I never lose it.
Maybe the fruits of the Spirit are more important than
the gifts of the Spirit. God's focus, just maybe, is on what He wants us to do
instead of the tools He gives us to do them with. When I start looking, and
being, more like God in the way I think and act... (in the way I am) the more God fills me with His
Spirit. As a young boy in the Catabolic
church I learned that God made us in His image and likeness. We are the image
of God on earth and He put his character and qualities inside of us.
Lets look at how faithful God is... he is perfectly
faithful... look at his promises
Matt 28:20 is a guarantee: He will be with us, even to the end of time. He is
with us every day that we live until the end of time. Think about that promise
the next time somebody tells you that "Nobody loves me." Look at
Psalms 118, 119, and 136. Thirty five times God tells us in these scriptures
that he loves us. No obstacles of ours can stand between us and God's love.
"Potato chip promises" don't last through the third week in Lent but
God's promises are everlasting.
The Bible is full of God's promises. Acts talks about
the filling of the Holy Spirit... numerous places promise the coming of a
savior. How did God fulfill this promise? He sent His only son. How faithful
was the son to the mission he was given? To
a death on the cross. How can we question the faithfulness of
God? Even when we are in a boat in the middle of a storm... we can count on
Jesus to pull us through. If we are fearful in the midst of these situations we
don't "really" know Jesus. Jesus says it is important to know I am
faithful. Time after time he repeats it... "Truly, truly I say unto you..."
You don't get this quality of God by flexing your own muscles. You get it by
saying "come Jesus into my heart and fill me with your Holy Spirit"
II Macabes
7:1-41 gives the story of a heroic woman who was faithful. She had seven sons
and they were arrested along with their mother. The invaders tried to force
them to eat pork and defile themselves and then slowly chopped each son to
pieces because each refused to give in to their demands. Then when they came to
her youngest son the King said to the mother save your last son, but she said
to her son, be worthy of your six bothers and be faithful. The boy then said to
the King, "What are you waiting for... I will not obey the King, I will put my faith in the
Lord." The mother died seven times before she was finally killed. Now that
is fidelity. How often do we follow through on our promises?
Mother Teresa was once offered a monthly gift of
$10,000 by the Knights of Columbus but she said "Thank you, but no thank
you, because if I accept your promised gift I may be tempted to trust in your
check and not in the the
Lord." Now that is fidelity!
Pray that the fruit of fidelity
be poured out on those who call themselves Christians. To be poured out and
drenched upon them. If this happened there would not be a valley of tears.
If a person has a spouse that is faithful in all
respects... they would not divorce him or her... they would put up with the
other imperfect things in order to keep that person.
Pray that this one virtue would fill our churches...
not that church members would spend one hour [out of the 168 hours] a week in
church. In many churches some parishioners can't even give the Lord a full
hour. They come late to the service and leave right after communion is served.
Pray for the fidelity of our leaders and that they
would be faithful, not to being reelected. If this were to happen there would
be a change in our nation. President Bush is doing well because he is looking
reliable. He will do things others might not because he seems to be working
from principal. (And no, I am not on his campaign staff!!!)
God wants our reliability and our fidelity. He says he
wants us to be perfect. Here is a quiz for you to take, to help you judge how
you are doing in the area of fidelity.
1. Can I face times of trials and times of sickness with
conformity, saying a quiet prayer of surrender, as I join my sufferings to the
cross of Christ -- believing that nothing ever happens that God doesn't use for
my own good?